We believe in the vision of ‘Make in India,’ and our proposed joint venture with Rafael is a step in this direction. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
The advantage comes out of the capability of Indian engineers and the competitiveness of their capabilities and the cost at which they can create those capabilities. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
At the Bangalore air show, we got a contract from Boeing for supplying structural components, and we are already supplying jet engine components to Rolls Royce. Both these are titanium-based, not steel components. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
India is the most competitive manufacturing destination on this planet. If we are able to take advantage of that competitiveness for our domestic markets, this country would be humming with activity; industrial production will grow at 10-11% per year. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
Everywhere in the world, whether manufacturing, trade or whatever, it is controlled by one apparatus and one policy perspective. Here we have one prime minister with good intentions, and six ministries running their own empires. This creates problems including the import culture. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
We need to just study what other countries have done. There are examples of a strong partnership between the defence establishment and the private industry. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
We passionately set up a programme that we call the Indian gun programme. I challenged Colonel Bhatia, who heads our defence business, that let’s build an Indian gun. There’s a belief that Indian companies aren’t capable of this, and we want to prove them wrong, as we did in components. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
We’ve made two products; one is a 155 mm 52-calibre gun with self-propelling and towing capability. This is a field gun – the mainstay of the Indian army like the Bofors guns. Our gun is similar but of a longer range. That was 39 calibre; this is 52. The calibre denotes the length of the barrel and the range. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
There is a feeling within our system that defence equipment can’t be made here and should be imported. I wanted to break this myth, so we spent our money and made a product to prove we have capability in this country, so don’t just brush us aside. Baba Kalyani Read Quote
